Aussie takes 100th Open at Hills
Murray makes it a lot harder than it should’ve been in 18th-hole nightmare
The hope for a Kiwi win at the 100th New Zealand Open was not to be as Australian Zach Murray got the job done at The Hills after leading all week.
The 21-year-old was on fire from day one and did enough in the end to take out his second professional title by two shots with a four-under 68 to finish on 21-under for the tournament.
But he made it a lot harder than it should’ve been. Murray was cruising towards the title until the 18th when he got into all sorts of trouble — first losing his drive badly to the right, then over-hitting his second shot way past the green into the tall stuff.
But after cleaning up nicely to make bogey, Murray — who only just turned pro in November last year — claimed the crown and denied any chance of a New Zealand home win.
“I never thought I was going to get off the 18th,” he said of his almostdisaster on the final hole. “I just got a flier on the second shot and didn’t know what to think but I’m glad she’s all done and dusted and it’s been a fantastic week.”
Kiwi Josh Geary, who played with Murray in the final pairing, managed to push the Australian towards the end but ultimately couldn’t make up the ground he needed. Geary ended up bettering Murray’s hot final nine but a rocky start, including two bogeys in a row, meant his dream of winning at his home open fell short.
The top-ranked New Zealander in the field Ryan Fox finished strong with a five-under 67 but was made to rue a disappointing day three that left him too far behind the leaders to finish six behind Murray.
“You take nine holes out yesterday afternoon and it was a pretty good week,” he said after his round.
“Obviously the scoring is red hot again today and nine holes took me out of the tournament really.
“But the rest of it I played a lot of good golf. I felt like I had a chance and as I said was just not quite there yesterday.”
Fox, who was one of the main draw cards all week, was disappointed not to win what he described as being up there with a major. But considering his hectic schedule over the past three weeks where he struggled with jet-lag, he was satisfied with his effort.
“I really wanted to win this one and gave it a decent shot . . . but I can certainly walk away with my head held high this week.”
Harry Bateman and Steven Alker were the other New Zealanders who fell just short, both finishing at 16-under to finish in a tie for fifth.
Obviously the scoring is red hot again today and nine holes took me out of the tournament really.
Ryan Fox